Episode Details

Multimillionaire newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane (Oscar-winner Orson Welles) dies alone in his extravagant mansion named Xanadu, speaking a single word: "Rosebud."  In an attempt to figure out the meaning of this word, a reporter tracks down the people who worked and lived with Kane.  They tell their stories in a series of flashbacks which reveal much about Kane's life but not enough to unlock the riddle of his dying breath.  This was the film directorial debut of Orson Welles who was also an actor and playwright at the time of release, bringing over much of the cast from his renowned Mercury Theatre troupe to play key roles including Joseph Cotton, Dorothy Comingore, Everett Sloane, Ray Collins, George Coulouris, and Agnes Moorehead.  As the story was loosely based on the life of then media magnate William Randolph Hearst, it never achieved the necessary level of release in theaters to eneable it become commercially successful though the film was nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture, along with both Best Actor and Best Director for Welles.  The only Oscar it would win would be Best Original Screenplay for Welles and co-writer Herman J. Mackiewicz.  Over time, its reputation has only grown and it is now considered by many critics and cinephiles to be one of the greatest if not THE best American film of all time. 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

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